X-MEN- CH-70. A new planet

After countless years of development, the Sovereigns have entered the era of planetary unification. The planet Sovereign is rich in advanced energy batteries, which have greatly boosted its technological advancements. Long ago, when other planets in the galaxy were still relatively primitive, the Sovereigns had already begun interstellar travel. One step ahead, all steps ahead.

Today, many years later, the Sovereigns have ruled over a large galaxy, which includes many planets with life. Due to their powerful technological capabilities, the ancestors of the Sovereigns were very arrogant. Over time, this arrogance only intensified, becoming ingrained in their culture.

Similar to the home planet of Superman, the Sovereigns' descendants are bred through technology. At birth, each person's status and future work are determined. However, as an ordinary person, Martin still prefers natural childbirth. In the real world, the future of most people may be determined at birth, but there is still a chance to change one's destiny. But the Sovereigns don't have that choice; their genes determine everything. There is no room for dissatisfaction or rebellion.

Martin and Raven arrived on a planet called Tred, which is ruled by the Sovereigns and is about the same size as Earth. The Sovereigns are quite xenophobic. Without an invitation, they don't allow others to enter Sovereign Planet, so Tred serves as the largest trading hub in the galaxy. It functions similarly to the Realm of Nothingness, but while the Realm of Nothingness is chaotic, Tred maintains order. Interestingly, it is not the Sovereigns who keep the peace; they consider it beneath them to deal with outsiders.

After conquering Tred long ago, they allowed the locals to manage it while retaining the right to rule and collect taxes.

The spaceship port on Tred is like a parking lot on Earth. If the spacecraft and its passengers are not on a wanted list, they can leave once they register and pay the necessary fees. After exiting the spaceship port, Martin and Raven felt as if they had stepped into a golden world. From the platform, they could see golden buildings everywhere due to the port's high altitude. It was nighttime on Tred, and because of the bright lights, the entire planet appeared to glow with a golden hue. The Sovereigns' insignia was displayed prominently on buildings, flagpoles, and giant virtual projections in the sky. Everywhere you looked, you saw their symbol.

Raven was holding an electronic map, similar to a tablet but completely transparent. When not displaying content, it looked like a piece of glass with a frame. Yondu, ever the resourceful one, had imported all the map data into their spacecraft and even prepared mobile devices for them. The screen was multifunctional, allowing them to view maps, control the spacecraft's safety systems remotely, and even conduct video chats with registered contacts. Each new feature made Martin more grateful to Yondu.

"Shall we go directly to take the mission?" Raven asked, swiping on the screen.

"Let's walk around first, get something to eat, and try the food here." Martin replied.

"Sounds good."

Although there were vehicles to take them from the spaceship port to the surface, Martin and Raven chose to walk and enjoy the scenery. Along the way, they encountered many races they hadn't seen in the Realm of Nothingness or on Yondu's ship.

Tred seemed much safer, and there were civilians from other planets, including women and children. You could easily distinguish mercenaries from civilians by their attire and demeanor. The planet had a wide variety of aliens, both humanoid and non-humanoid, but Martin's eyes, naturally, were drawn to the humanoid ones with different colored skin—pink, red, purple, blue.

While these beings might be considered strange on Earth, they were normal here. Even Martin and Raven found themselves unfazed.

When they arrived at a restaurant, they found a wide variety of food. There were even dishes from the place of Collector, though it was unclear where they had originated. It seemed that trade relations between planets during the interstellar age functioned much like those between countries on Earth.

"Hmm... this is much better than the one back there." Raven remarked after trying a bite of what looked like "chicken."

"That's true… But the people there only think about work all day. They probably don't care much about food."

"Then what's the point of making money if you can't even enjoy a good meal?"

"Who knows?"

After eating, the two headed to the mission release office. Though it was nighttime, neither of them needed rest; they had only just woken up. Following the electronic map's guidance, they arrived at a hall dedicated to accepting and delivering bounty missions.

The place resembled a business office, complete with private cubicles and even customer service. It was hard to believe at first, but this was a trading hub backed by a powerful force, so it made sense that such amenities were in place for the sake of maintaining order. On more chaotic planets like those in the universe such as Collector's, such conveniences were unnecessary—there, it was enough to have a place to accept missions.

In the hall, many people were gathered in groups, chatting casually, exchanging information, or even forming temporary teams. You could overhear bits of useful information from their conversations. For Martin and Raven, everything was new and confusing, though some familiar names, like Ronan, the Kree Empire, Xandar, and even the infamous Thanos and his lieutenants, occasionally caught Martin's attention.

Some group mentioned that Thanos had conquered another place, but such topics were only briefly discussed before being dropped.

In places like this, there were always shady characters mixed in with the good, and even in the most orderly locations, that couldn't be avoided. Since entering the hall, Martin noticed curious glances aimed in their direction, as they clearly stood out as newcomers.


Naturally, someone was eyeing them. Martin and Raven arrived at a cubicle, turned on the machine, and after scanning Martin's identity, he entered the task acceptance state.

Browsing through the Sovereign's mission database, Martin saw numerous missions, most of which involved capturing someone. It seemed that many people had offended the Sovereigns. Martin searched for the battery protection mission he wanted to accept, went through the acceptance process, and left his contact information and spaceship details. With that, the mission officially became his and Raven's.

If any issues arose between the two parties, they could resolve them privately by contacting each other directly. The middleman would not get involved; they simply waited to collect fees from the Sovereigns later.

After accepting the mission, Martin searched for tasks related to the Milky Way. There weren't many. Compared to the vastness of the universe, the Milky Way seemed small. Most of the missions within the Milky Way involved hunting down criminals on Xandar. The others were posted by forces or individuals Martin didn't recognize.

It was clear that Xandar should be regarded as one of the largest forces in the Milky Way—perhaps one of the largest forces overall. To be precise, though, Xandar wasn't even in the Milky Way. The space militia and exploration agencies of Xandar formed the Nova Corps, which initially protected Xandar and later expanded to cover the entire Andromeda Galaxy. Thus, they were also called the Xandar Interstellar Corps.

Since the Andromeda Galaxy is relatively close to the Milky Way and both belong to the same galaxy group, Xandar was essentially a powerful neighbor to the Milky Way—a powerful but relatively backward neighbor.

"After we finish this mission, we'll head to Xandar." Said Martin.

"OK." Raven responded casually. She didn't care much about any of it. She was here for fun, and with Martin around, she could relax and enjoy the scenery and experience the customs and cultures of different places.

"Lazybones..." Martin glanced back at Raven, teasing.

"Me? Ha... You've got some nerve calling me that."

"Don't you have anywhere you want to go?"

"No." Raven said. "I've got a strong backer, and I feel safe. All I want to do now is follow you."

"That makes sense, but it's better if you stay in front of me. I like being behind you because this way... I can protect you."

"..."

Isn't that why he wanted to become stronger in the first place? Strength is always the foundation and confidence of a family. You can survive without it, but you can't live well without it.

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